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Office of Citizens' Complaints says 20% cut would eliminate more than five positions; 30%+ threatens a quarter of staff
Summary
OCC Director Joyce Hicks told the commission that meeting the mayor’s 20% reduction target would require eliminating about 5.25 positions (15% of staff) and that a combined 30% target would total 8.75 layoffs — roughly 25% of OCC staff — endangering mediation and investigative capacity.
Joyce Hicks, director of the Office of Citizens' Complaints, presented a detailed breakdown of how the mayor’s reduction targets would affect OCC operations.
Hicks said OCC’s 20% reduction target equals $540,000 and an additional 10% contingency equals $270,000. To achieve the $540,000 target OCC would have to remove 5.25 positions (three clerk typists, 1.25 investigators and one attorney), a cut that would represent roughly 15% of OCC’s staff of 34.75 positions. If the broader 10% contingency were also applied, OCC would face a cumulative reduction of about 8.75 positions — about 25% of staff — and the office acknowledged this would significantly harm case handling, the mediation program and investigative throughput.
Hicks highlighted recent gains under her leadership: the average case load per investigator has fallen from 34 to 21 and sustained‑rate work has increased because investigators have been more focused. She warned that deeper cuts would reverse those gains and would make it harder to prosecute sustained cases, support hearings and maintain timely case closures.
Commissioners urged creativity to avoid deep OCC cuts because the office’s functions — investigators, mediators and attorneys — are tightly coupled to public accountability and to charter staffing formulas. Commissioner Onik emphasized the disproportionate effect of a percentage cut on a small department and asked the commission to prioritize protections for OCC functions where possible.
Next steps: OCC asked the commission to consider the staffing math in its deliberations and to work with the mayor’s office to seek alternatives that minimize damage to oversight capacity.
